Monthly Archives: October 2006

If you’re thinking about not voting, Michelle Malkin’s latest Vent will scare you into a more civic-minded attitude. She reviews the House of horrors that we’ll see if the Dems re-take the House or the Senate. It’s not pretty. »

John Kerry’s gaffe yesterday was a self-inflicted wound, greatly compounded by his refusal to apologize and his bizarre attack on the Republicans, as if they had somehow made him stick his foot in his mouth. One wonders what possessed Kerry to say that soldiers are both dumb and lazy: “You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you »

Last night, I asked for 30 or 40 volunteers to help out with a new Power Line project. Several hundred volunteers responded. This project will begin within the next 48 hours or so, and you should all get an email with instructions. Thanks again! »

…John Kerry will be in Minnesota tomorrow to campaign with Democratic Congressional candidate Tim Walz. Our friend Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Joe Repya issued this statement earlier this afternoon: The men and women serving in the uniform of our nation are not fodder for politicians to joke about. By insulting veterans and active members of the United States military as uneducated losers, John Kerry owes an apology to all the brave »

Today is your last chance to vote on (and I recommend against) the proposed Dartmouth Constitution. The pro-consitution forces have blitzed Dartmouth alums with email appeals, pre-recorded messages, and calls from telemarketer types. The essence of their message is that a “yes” vote will “keep Dartmouth strong” while a “no” vote will lead Dartmouth into “a downward death spiral.” To my knowledge, though, no one has explained why radically overhauling »

An interview with Ken Mehlman during election season is not to be missed, even when it’s conducted by the insufferable Charlie Rose. Last night, Rose tried to score against Mehlman with questions like (in essence) are you content to have this election be decided based on Bush taking us into and then mismanaging a war we’re losing in search of WMD that weren’t there. When Mehlman had no difficulty with »

is now outdoing Al Gore when it comes to loser derangement syndrome. And Kerry doesn’t even have the excuse of having almost won the presidency. Here’s what Kerry said yesterday to a group of college students: You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If »

has a very clever new campaign ad up: Santorum has had to run in a very “blue” state during a very difficult election year. Nonetheless, he has not wavered from conservative principles and he has declined to back away from President Bush on the war. His “gathering storm” speech, if ignored now as I fear it will be, may well be remembered later, when we are in a much worse »

I’ve tried to make one key point about Keith Ellison’s alleged eighteen-month involvement with the Nation of Islam as the enthusiastic servant of a hate cult. Slightly modifying the words of the Frank Sinatra song, it was very long year. It extended at the least from Ellison’s days as a law student from 1987-1990 at the University of Minnesota Law School to his first run for office under the name »

Last week the paperback edition of the most recent book by our friend Steve Hayward was released: Greatness: Reagan, Churchill, & the Making of Extraordinary Leaders. The paperback is now available from Amazon and should be in good book stores everywhere. The cover of the book will by itself warm the heart of conservatives and mightily annoy liberals; the back of the paperback edition of the book carries Power Line’s »

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Michael Barone brings a historical perspective to reading the meaning of sixth-year-of-the-presidency off-year elections. His column is “The six-year itch.” He asks: Have big gains for the out party been a harbinger of future voting patterns? And have opposition victories in those elections resulted in significant public policy changes? He answers: History gives us clear answers to those questions. They are: sometimes yes and sometimes »

Driving home tonight, I listened to Hugh Hewitt inerviewing Mark Halperin, political director of ABC News. Since then, I’ve reviewed the entire transcript here. I would urge you to read the interview, or track down Hugh’s podcast of it when it appears at TownHall. It was one of the most remarkable interviews I’ve listened to in a long time. Remarkable, in part, because Halperin came across very well. He was »

Bush administration critics sometimes say that our military is playing “whack-a-mole” in Iraq, moving troops from one troubled area to another, only to see trouble to reappear in the areas from which we have moved them. Most of these critics are not arguing in good faith — they’re vexed not that we’re whacking too few moles but that we’re whacking any. Nonetheless, there seems to be some truth to the »

We are looking for 30 or 40 volunteers to help with a new Power Line project. It won’t cost anything, require any work, or take more than a few minutes of your time. If you’re interested in helping out, please send us an email at powerlinefeedback@gmail.com. Thanks! »

…ran campaigns as sharp as Michael Steele’s. Have you ever wondered where the men in the street in “man in the street” campaign ads come from? This is a Ben Cardin ad called “Real People,” in which a series of Marylanders identified only by name praise Cardin: Just plain folks, right? The Steele campaign Googled Cardin’s “real people” and put out the results in their own ad: Well, they’re real »